Trump’s U.S. Approval Rating is Nearly Double Macron’s in France

Critics often focus on Trump’s sub-50 percent approval rating, but he has a far better standing among the American public than Macron does in France or than May does in Great Britain.

By NTK Staff | 12.05.2018 @11:30am

Since his inauguration in January 2017, President Donald Trump has earned approval ratings ranging from the mid-40s to, at times, the high 30s. Critics of the White House have frequently used this as evidence of Trump’s lack of a mandate as president and vulnerability to potential challengers in 2020.

But when viewed on the global stage, the U.S. president is actually in far better standing among his constituents than the leaders in key European Union nations.

In France, Emmanuel Macron’s approval rating is a paltry 23 percent. Compare that to Trump’s approval rating of 47 percent in a recent Fox News poll.

According to a Fox News report, “many on both the left and right see him as out-of-touch.” Riots have broken out in the past two weeks in response to Macron’s call for a new gas tax to help fight climate change.

Macron once had a friendly relationship with Trump, but that relationship soured after the U.S. president spurned Macron’s advice on climate change and relations with Iran. Macron then publicly jabbed at Trump – attacking the notion of nationalism after Trump embraced the term, as well as calling for the formation of a European army to protect Europe against China, Russia, and even the United States.

Trump is also well ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May, whose approval rating stands at 29 percent, according to the latest Ipsos Mori poll. Despite a vote two years ago in favor of doing so, May is struggling to convince her countrymen and women to support Great Britain’s exit from the European Union.

May also has frosty relations with Trump, who recently critiqued the prime minister’s Brexit proposal, saying it “sounds like a great deal for the EU.”

Democrats are beginning in earnest their plans to mount 2020 campaigns to challenge Trump. And while the president could be in better standing ahead of this campaign season, given how European Union leaders are doing, things could certainly be worse.